In The Dark
by Royalty Over Reality
Summary: A simple one-shot about Diana trying to take care of Caine while he is in a coma during the period of time in between Gone and Hunger. Rated K for some very mild suggestive content.


The lights were out in Caine's room. In fact, they had been since he had lifted the roof off of Mose's cabin. The cracks left behind from that incident allowed a good amount of sunlight to sneak in during the day. At night, lights weren't needed. On rare occasions, Diana would come in to check on her comatose boyfriend, but she saved most of the jobs that required being able to see clearly until the next day. Usually, she didn't bother checking on him at all when it was dark outside. After all, he couldn't exactly get offended if she didn't bother coming in to say goodnight.

Despite her usual habits, Diana found herself standing in Caine's doorway at 11:21 pm. She knew it wasn't a good idea to go and check on him in the middle of the night when nobody else would be awake to come and check on her if Caine ended up throwing her across the room in a fit of delusional rage. Then again, if Caine threw her hard enough, having someone there wouldn't do her much good at all.

Diana decided it was best not to think about that. She had to keep taking care of Caine if she didn't want Drake to take over Coates Academy permanently. No matter how gory Chunk's death had been, being thrown into a brick wall would be better than having to deal with whatever Drake had in store for her if he was able to get Caine out of the picture. Still, it wasn't as though Caine really needed anyone to take care of him at this moment. He hadn't injured himself or fallen out of bed. He had simply gone quiet after a few hours of loudly ranting and raving.

From across the room, Diana couldn't see anything out of the ordinary in the darkness. So, she tried turning on the lights. Unfortunately, Caine must have destroyed some sort of important wiring when he had lifted up the roof of the cabin because the lights wouldn't turn on. Diana was going to have to rely on the light from the hallway to see. She flipped the light switch back off, not wanting to accidentally start a fire by leaving the faulty circuits open for too long. Then, she walked over to the side of Caine's bed and knelt down to get a better look at him. His hair was messy, his skin was pale, and when she reached out to touch him he was covered in cold sweat. Nothing was out of the ordinary, except for one thing. His eyes were open.

"Caine?" Diana whispered.

He didn't respond, or even turn to look at her. He just stared blankly up at the cracked ceiling.

"I did that, did I?" he murmured, his voice almost incomprehensible.

"No, it was the other telekinetic mental case," Diana muttered, a little bit louder this time.

This seemed to have gotten his attention.

"Diana?" Caine called out.

He struggled to sit up by limply flailing his arms around.

"Diana?" He repeated, more desperately this time. "I heard you!"

"I'm right here," Diana said. It was a statement of fact, not reassurance.

"Diana! Diana? Where?" Caine shouted, still struggling to regain control of his own body.

"I'm right here, you idiot. Didn't you hear me the first time?"

She reached out and touched his face, so as to let her know where she was.

"I can't find you. Where are you?" Caine rambled.

Diana climbed up onto the bed and helped Caine sit up. It was a difficult task because he kept thrashing around, as though he was fighting against some sort of invisible force that was trying to keep him held down. Once he stopped moving around so much, he seemed to start gaining a better awareness of his surroundings. Caine's eyes were frantically darting around the room and he was leaning on Diana for support. He had one hand on her shoulder and the other one on her thigh. This was the first time that the two of them had ever gotten this close to each other, and Caine probably wasn't even registering it.

"Diana, is that you?" Caine asked. Maybe he did know what was going on after all.

"Yes, you were just looking for me, remember?" Diana said. She was irritated, but she didn't feel the need to mock him.

"Barely, I think I'm losing it," Caine said. His voice was hushed and slightly raspy from all of the shouting that he had been doing earlier that night, but he was looking her in the eye.

"No kidding," Diana said tensely, not really knowing how to respond.

"I don't know if there's anything you can really do, but I want you to keep me here," Caine pleaded.

Diana wanted to back away, but Caine's arms were beginning to quiver. He needed Diana's support if he was going to keep sitting up.

"I don't know what you mean. You haven't left this bed once in the last couple of months," Diana answered.

"I shouldn't have even asked you. If I can't fight it, how are you supposed to? It's all in my head, you can't even feel it," Caine rambled.

"What are you talking about, Caine? None of this is making any sense."

Diana felt hot tears starting to roll down her cheeks. She looked down so that Caine couldn't see her cry. Diana wasn't worried about him thinking that she was weak. He was in no position to make judgments like that about anyone, much less her. Diana just didn't want anyone to see her break down. Having a witness made her pain feel too real, even if that witness could barely comprehend what was going on.

"Diana, don't…" Caine trailed off as he lifted his hand from her thigh. He started moving his arm in what Diana thought was a feeble attempt to touch her face.

Needless to say, he didn't succeed. Before Diana knew what was happening he had collapsed on top of her. He hadn't fallen into her with very much force, so she was still sitting up. She put her hand on his back to see if she could still feel his heartbeat. When she could, she pressed her ear to his chest and listened for the sound of his breathing. She was curled up in a strange position with her naked, comatose boyfriend; but it was making her feel better. Her tears started to dry up as her breathing fell in time with his.

It was hardly a good moment, but it wasn't a bad one either.

"Hungry, hungry in the dark," Caine murmured.

Diana let go of Caine. She was worried that he was about to become volatile again, but she didn't leave. Instead, she rolled Caine onto his back and then sat on the edge of his bed. She listened to him repeat the same three words over and over until she couldn't take it anymore.

"I get it! You're hungry! And you're in the dark! If it's that big of a problem maybe you should get up, turn on a light, and go get some breakfast!" Diana shouted, jumping to her feet. "Whatever you do, you might as well do it fast, because we're almost out of food."

Caine's bedroom seemed darker when it had been filled with his delusional ravings. Diana walked over to the doorway and flipped the light switch into the on position. When nothing happened, she simply stood in the doorway, waiting for more of the same.


End file.
